An explosion of colour, music, revelry, and creativity swamped Georgetown on Wednesday, as Guyana celebrated its 41st republic anniversary with the traditional Mashramani costume and float parade.
With its massive costume bands, spectacular costumes, pulsating music and the unrivalled stamina of revellers, Wednesday’s event was indeed something to remember.
The parade saw more than 38 floats comprising hundreds of revellers vying for the top spot in various categories. The parade took off from Camp and Church Streets around 10: 30 hours. The young, the old, persons from near and far stood in the brilliant sunshine along the route to get a glimpse of the floats and revellers as they wind their way to the National Park for the grand finale. Some lined the roadway, some set up tents along the way; and there were food, drinks and games in abundance.
There were a number of judges’ booths placed at strategic locations along the route and as the bands approached them, the revellers put on a grand performance with the intention of winning the top prize.
Onlookers applauded the floats from Region Six; the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry, the Health Ministry, Digicel, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company and Hits and Jams’ Blue Wave band, Banks DIH, the Maxi K Williams band and several others.
One woman, who gave her name as Nurse Percy of the Georgetown Public Hospital, disclosed that this year, the costumes and floats were more decorative compared to 2010. “Every year, my family and I come out to look at the parade and it has now become a culture not only for me but for the entire nation,” Nurse Percy told Guyana Times International.
Baksh in the band
Leading the Education Ministry’s band, Minister Shaik Baksh was clearly enjoying himself. He told this publication that the ministry had won the small band competition for the past three consecutive years and he was optimistic that it will come in first again in 2011. The minister said that he was quite happy with the turnout of the Guyanese populace even though there was some uncertainty whether the activity would be postponed as result of the weather.
The “Champion of the Earth” float designed by Ryan Bourne
Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy was also having fun and he told this newspaper that he was confident that his ministry’s band would win. The ministry’s concept this year was “Love that body, which addressed the prevention of chronic diseases by promoting healthy habits and lifestyles. The float was designed by renowned designer, Derek Moore and had about three hundred revellers.
PPP/C General Secretary Donald Ramotar was also having a fine time and greeted spectators as he led his large contingent to the National Park. He was thankful for the sunshine which graced Georgetown making this event possible.
Not one to be left out, Public Service Minister Jennifer Westford also led her ministry’s contingent, proudly noting that her float was exclusively designed by herself and staff members. She said the ministry’s float represents the city that they want to see in the future. “Georgetown was once called the Garden City and we want to restore it to its original state,” the minister stated.
One of the most captivating floats, which left people with their mouths and eyes open was “The bread basket of Guyana” float out of Region Six. The float portrayed the magnificent Berbice Bridge. This float was designed by Maurice Morian, who explained that the bridge is a masterpiece giving Berbicians easy access to Georgetown and other regions in Guyana. He said that his staff of six assembled the float in four weeks.
The two most talked about bands were the Digicel and the ‘Blue Wave’ bands. After waiting in the queue for more than two hours, the Blue Wave revellers were ready. The Blue Wave band had a few large trucks with revellers on a second-storey platform as they paraded down the streets. Guyana’s singing sensation Timeka Marshall was a part of the GT& T/ Hits and Jams band and was also draped in blue and silver.
At the starting point, the Blue Wave DJ sent shock waves through the crowd which greeted the band with loud screams and cheers. GT&T then distributed rags and flags to persons so that they could join in the celebrations. The band was designed by Hits and Jams.
The crowd went berserk as Digicel’s band approached the intersection of Camp and Church Streets. The 200 band members were decked out in purple, gold and red which symbolise royalty. This was according to Mash coordinator for Digicel, Ryan Da Silva.
He said that the band has three individual floats and the main float which was the “King”. The designer of the Digicel float and costumes, Olympia Sonaram was too busy gyrating and distributing bandanas and caps to the crowd to provide a comment.
Some bands were left incomplete as their floats could not have been completed in time. One such band was the Banks DIH band with its beautifully costumed revellers.
An explosion of colour, music, revelry, and creativity swamped Georgetown on Wednesday, as Guyana celebrated its 41st republic anniversary with the traditional Mashramani costume and float parade.
